One Gamble He'll Never Lose
by SweetGoldStar
Summary: There's one gamble that he refuses to lose because it's the one that means his whole life and of course it's the one concerning her. Post 100th episode, Booth & brennan


**Hello dear Bones fanworld! This is a 100Th episode fic so if you don't want to be spoilt you better turn back right now! ****I started writing this story right after I've seen the ep in May but with school being too busy to be good I didn't get to finish it until now. I tried to pick up where I'd left of writing but I couldn't completely remember my original intents with this story. **

**But I decided to finish and post it anyway. I know there have been a lot of these here already and I'm unbelievably late cause most of you have already written about the finale and everything by now but I'll post this anyway. What better to do while trying to survive this hiatus than having a little fun with Bones ourselves? **

**As usual I would like to point out that English is not my native language and that this hasn't been Beta-read, so I apologize for grammatical and other errors. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones, the brilliance of the 100th episode plot or the outstanding actors who made the episode so amazing. **

**That being said, I hope you'll enjoy this story, that everyone's having a great summer and that the hiatus is not killing you!**

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As they walked away from the place where Booth, for the first time in years, gambled, went basically all-in, as they walked away from what could have possibly been 'their moment' and Booth rested his head on top of hers briefly, he knew that he couldn't, shouldn't give up that easily.

If you gamble, you have to be prepared for loss and you have to be ready to win your loss back. You never know if it'll work, but nevertheless you ought to try, because what you've lost might be essential for living.

His sudden halt, obliged her to stop as well considering her arm was still linked with his.

"Temperance, I…I can't do this."

He could see the fear in her eyes rise immediately. Her voice sounded as fragile as it had done when she told him she understood that he had to move on.

"What do you mean? You…you can't work with me anymore?"

He shook his head, as if not only to answer her but to get his thoughts straight right at the same time. It wasn't working, it didn't make sense, nothing did at that moment.

"I can't just walk away and leave it at that. I just… I don't understand Bones, I don't get it. I need to know, I need to know why."

She looked confused. "I told you why Booth. I gave you more than enough reasons."

"No, Bones, you haven't. That's just it. I don't know where I went wrong. That first case, we flirted, we kissed…so it's not as if you're not attracted to me. We're best friends Bones, I think that means there are some feelings involved, right? So where did I go wrong? Why is it that you can't even get yourself to just give us a chance? Why is the thought of being with me such a horrific idea for you?"

He looked utterly devastated and at a loss for it. She saw it and it broke her just as well, though she didn't think she deserved that, she was after all the one rejecting him.

"Don't say that, you know that's not true." She was pleading, pleading for him to understand, for him to let it go. But somewhere deep down she already knew that he wouldn't and she knew that he deserved an explanation.

"Do I?" He asked, his eyes wide with despair.

If she wouldn't give him the truth, he would be capable of blaming himself for all this, it frustrated her but she knew that was him and she couldn't stand the thought of him doing that to himself on top of what she was doing to him.

"You are the best thing that ever happened to me, Booth. You are my best friend, my confidant. I…I can't lose you Booth, I just can't. I can't be what you want me to be, what you need me to be." Just saying that nearly killed her, metaphorically of course.

"I need you Bones. All I ever wanted is you." His heart, his brain, his whole being was a turmoil of feelings and thoughts. One moment he felt like killing himself for making her cry, the other he could just shake her, trying to knock some sense into her.

"You deserve better Booth. I can't promise you 30 or 40 or 50 years. I wish I could, but I can't change. I don't know how. I'm not a gambler, I don't know how to be one. I'm a scientist all the way and…"

He interrupted her briskly, grabbing her arms just below her elbows, desperate to look into her eyes and convince her that she was wrong.

"Bones, I know you're not a gambler. But this…us…it's not a gamble, it's…it's an actual-factual thing. I don't need you to change Bones, I never have. I know this won't pass. From the moment I saw you 6 years ago, I knew. I knew you were it and after all these years I still do. That hasn't changed Temperance, that's how I know."

Her voice cracked when she tried to speak again, she was almost blinded by tears. "You're evidence is still anecdotal. How can I know that this love is real when there is not even a theory to stave it with?"

"You want evidence?" He looked at her fiercely, tears streaming over his own face every now and then.

"How do you feel Bones, when you're around me? How does it make you feel when I look you in the eyes? And what about when I do this?"

He brushed his lips briefly and gently against hers.

"You feel nothing?"

She was sobbing heavily by now and though it tore him apart to hurt her, he couldn't seem to stop anymore. He couldn't let her go without a fight, they deserved that much.

"Of course I feel something Booth!" she cried out. "How can you even think that I don't? For 15 years I let myself feel as little as possible, I built up walls to block it all out and then you happened! I don't know how you did it but you broke them all down, you gave me my life back."

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down a little. Though she didn't mind losing it in front of him, not anymore, not with him.

"You gave me my life back Booth, I don't want to take away yours."

His face was tortured, he couldn't believe what she was saying. Tenderly, he cradled her face in his hands, speaking to her in a quiet yet determined tone.

"Don't ever say something like that again, don't even think it. Don't you see that you did the same for me? You gave me a purpose again Temperance, you gave me a reason to fight, a reason to be a better person."

She shook her head dramatically while he still held it.

"I don't deserve your love Booth and one day you'll realise that too." she whispered. "And you'll leave me, it will hurt so much more then, than it already does now Booth, for both of us. I am trying to protect you!"

"If there's one thing I don't need protection from, then it's you Bones. You deserve nothing but the best and I will not even pretend that I am the best, Bones. But I do know that I would always love and cherish you with all I have. I won't leave you Bones, never willingly, I thought you got that by now. You have tried to push me away so many times Bones and it has never worked. Don't you think that if it never has so far, it never will? Whatever you say or do Temperance, my love for you will always be greater than my frustration or anger towards you. People fight, so do we, but there's nothing you'll ever be able to say or do to drive me away Temperance, nothing!"

"I…I…" She didn't know what she was saying anymore, she couldn't even seem to remember what her objections were and why she was fighting him in the first place when it was clearly what they both wanted.

"If you can't trust yourself in this, than at least trust me. I love you Temperance Brennan, always have and always will. And I want to spent my life loving and cherishing you for as long as you'll let me. Whether it's 30 or 40 or 50 years or just one, I'll take whatever I can get."

"You'd do that?" she asked hoarsely.

If the situation wasn't so freaking bad ,he would've laughed. "Temperance, I just asked for a chance. I didn't ask you to sign a life-long commitment, did I? All I want is for us to give this a try. One step at a time, one day at a time. And if you're sick of me after weeks or months, at least I've had those with you, at least we'd know that we tried, there'd be no what ifs. Every piece I can get from you is still better than not having you at all Bones.

I know I can't prove that this will last but that's what experiments are for, right? When you want to prove something you do an experiment. You don't know the result beforehand either but you do it anyway because otherwise you would never know. But you know what Bones, no matter what you'll still be my partner and my best friend cause I don't need an experiment to know that I can't live without you.

I've loved you for 6 years, every day a little more. I don't care what you say, that's not just going to go away. I don't need you to be the gambler, I know you're a scientist. And as a scientist, don't you have enough prove that you can trust me by now?"

She nodded briefly, wiping away some tears while doing so.

"Then please Temperance, just give this a chance, give us a chance, that's all I'm asking."

Her heart was screaming at her to give in, she could practically hear it if that wasn't completely impossible for the heart is a muscle and therefore cannot speak. She knew her resolve was crumbling down, somehow that man always got her to do what he wanted her to. And if she were honest with herself, she couldn't care less anymore, right now all she wanted was for him to take care of her, hold her, kiss her.

And so her façade seemed to crumble at the same time as her body did, she didn't have any strength left and was relieved to find his arms around her, catching her before she fell, as always.

She whispered against his chest. "I love you Booth, but I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't." was his simple reply while he rubbed circles on her back.

"I don't understand how you can be so sure about that."

"I know you Bones, sometimes I know you better than you know yourself. You were willing to give up what you wanted just to make sure I wouldn't get hurt. I know you care, there's no one I trust more than you. Like I said, if there's one thing I don't need protection from then it's you."

"Thank you." She was still whispering, her eyes closing from fatigue and contentment.

"What for?" he asked, slightly confused.

"For not giving up." Her answer was simple and soft. And his was honest and loving. "I never could Bones, I'm that guy, I knew."

She nodded against his chest before he pulled back a little so he could look her in the eyes. This time he leaned in but paused some mere inches from her mouth. When she stayed exactly where she was and didn't show any sign of pulling back, he closed the gap between them. He kissed her tentatively this time, the fear of her pushing him away still fresh in his memory. But she poured as much despair and emotion in it as he did and soon they had to come up for air.

They stood catching their breath for a few moments before looking at each other again. Eventually they smiled and Booth asked with a grin on his face. "Diner?"

She smirked herself. "I could eat."

They started walking again and once more she linked her arm trough his and rested her head on his shoulder. Once more he answered her by putting his head on hers. But this time he kissed her hair before doing so and this time that's where his head stayed, just because he could, just because they both knew.

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**Well that's it for now! There's this other idea in my head that I'd like to become my first bigger multichap so I hope to be back here soon with something new and I hope to see you all back then!**

**Right now you can see this little button a little below and I'm sitting here really hoping that you'll push it, it would really make my day!**

**CherryXMe**


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